Railer swimmers 17th at state

Tuesday

May 26, 2009 at 12:01 AMMay 26, 2009 at 9:39 PM

Mark Schnabel

The Newton High School girls’ swimming team finished the season 17th at the state championships Saturday at the Capitol Federal Natatorium in Topeka.
The meet was dominated by Class 6A schools from northeast Kansas. Newton was third among schools in Class 5A and lower, which becomes important next season when the meet is broken off in two classes. Newton also set three school records at the meet.
“We had some school records and some personal records,” Newton coach Vicki Scheuermann said. “Everybody swam very well. We had three seniors, one junior and two freshmen here.”
Scheuermann said she’s looking forward to the new format in swimming.
“It’s going to be big,” Scheuermann said. “It’s going to open this up to so many girls. It will open up the competition. We’ll have a chance to bring in a lot of girls.”
Brittany Winter claimed a medal with a seventh-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly in 59.41, first among Class 5A swimmers. Winter was 16th in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:19.56, second among 5A swimmers.
“It was pretty awesome,” Winter said. “The finals were a lot harder to get into this year. I felt like my butterfly went pretty good. I was happy to get another medal. That’s been my goal all year. That was my best time or right at it. It ranks right up there with my best times.”
Freshman Christina Entz finished 15th in the 50-yard freestyle in a new school record of 25.45. She broke the record of 25.49 she set Friday in prelims. She was third among those in Class 5A and below.
“I did pretty good,” Entz said. “It was pretty nerve wracking for my first time here. I was really scared about my relay starts.”
Entz has been swimming competitively since the fifth grade.
“I’ve been getting better every year,” she said.
The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Kallie Attebery, Entz, Shelby Gronau and Winter finished second in the consolation finals in 1:44.22, 10th overall and a new school record. The Railers were the highest finishing Class 5A school in the field.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Attebery, Entz, Gronau and Winter finished second in the consolation finals in 3:48.82, also first among 5A schools.
Two Newton entries failed to reach the finals. The 200-yard medley relay team of Shelby Gronau, Natalie Hagman, Sara Slifer and Attebery finished 22nd out of 33 entries in 2:02.66.
Attebery finished 27th out of 33 in the 100-yard freestyle in 57.59.